Ben Bradshaw: I have set the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) the following performance targets for 2007-08.
	Fishing Vessel Licensing
	Issue 100 per cent. of over 10-metre licences biennially by 23 March and 100 per cent. of under 10-metre licences biennially by 30 June.
	Quota Management
	No overfishing of quota stocks by vessels or groups for which MFA has management responsibilitiesand which results in EU deduction or infraction proceedings against the UK.
	Enforcement on Land
	Deploy enforcement resources in line with risk weightings on land and risk and intelligence based tasking plans at sea.
	Grants
	Process 90 per cent. of claims within eight weeks of receipt of all necessary information.
	Fisheries Data
	Enter 90 per cent. of information on catches and fishing activity onto the fisheries database within five working days of receipt of all necessary information.
	Marine Environment
	Deploy inspection resources in line with risk weightings.
	Issue 65 per cent. of FEPA licences in 12 weeks and 80 per cent. in 15 weeks (excluding offshore renewable licences).
	Further details are given in the MFA business plan for 2007-08, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Caroline Flint: The Department has been reviewing the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances and related services in primary care since October 2005.
	The current arrangements under Part IX have not been reviewed in any detail for over 20 years. Nor is there any transparency between what is paid for an item and the cost of services. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the underlying cost structures have changed quite significantly; for instance, manufacturing processes have become more efficient and low-cost.
	In addition, there are no uniform standards of care provided by dispensers in relation to these items. Nor are the key dispensing contractors—pharmacy contractors and dispensing appliance contractors—reimbursed and remunerated in the same way.
	Therefore, in conducting this review, the Department's key objectives have been to:
	maintain and, where applicable, improve the quality of patient care;
	ensure that the national health service, and the taxpayer, is receiving value for money; and
	ensure fair remuneration of valued services provided by the pharmacy and appliance contractors.
	The most recent consultations closed on 2 April 2007. There were three consultation papers in all:
	Arrangements for the reimbursement pricing of stoma and incontinence appliances under Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
	Arrangements for the remuneration of services relating to appliances within Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
	Proposed amendments to the regulatory terms of service of pharmacy and appliance contractors in relation to dispensing items listed in Part X of the Drug Tariff.
	The Department received 137 formal responses. These came from patient groups, the NHS, trade bodies representing industry and dispensing appliance contractors, pharmacy contractors, dispensing doctors and individual providers—both manufacturers and dispensers. The Department also received a large number of letters from patients and MPs who had been alerted to the consultation by the dispensing contractors.
	The volume and complexity of the responses are such that the Department has decided that it needs more time to analyse the information provided.This analysis needs to take account of commentsmade about the Department's proposals regarding reimbursement for items and on the proposed levels of remuneration for particular services—such as home delivery and product customisation.
	Consequently, no changes will be implemented in July 2007 as proposed in the consultation documents. Moreover, we do not expect that the review will be completed before the end of the year.
	Critically, throughout the review, the needs of patients continue to be paramount and the Department is committed to ensuring that their care is maintained and improved. The Department also seeks to ensure that the NHS is receiving value for money and that the services provided by all dispensing contractors are to the same standard no matter where in England a user of appliances may live.

Douglas Alexander: Today I am informing the House that I am placing in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) two notices inviting interested companies to bid to be part of framework agreements to run different elements of a road pricing Demonstrations Project "Demonstrations". Copies of the accompanying context document are available in both Libraries of the House.
	I announced last May that the Government intend to run some Demonstrations to help us understand how time, distance and place road pricing could function so that it safeguards people's privacy, and operates reliably and accurately. We recognise that people are concerned about the possible impact road pricing might have on their privacy, and they want to be reassured that any road pricing schemes would be fair. The OJEU notices published today are simply the next stage in the procurement process to enable us to take the Demonstrations forward and address these issues in practice.
	The Demonstrations will inform the work that10 local areas are doing to develop proposals for local road pricing schemes. Alongside the draft Local Transport Bill, which I published yesterday, the Demonstrations will help local areas to develop local road pricing schemes as part of packages of local measures to tackle local congestion problems. These packages of measures will be eligible for funding from the Transport Innovation Fund, which will provide up to £200 million per year from 2008. We expect local authorities to submit their proposals in the summer, with the first road pricing schemes going live in local areas in four to five years time.
	The Demonstrations will also build our understanding of the components that would need to be commonly specified across all potential future time, distance and place road pricing schemes to ensure road users could move easily between one scheme and another. It is important that any future road pricing schemes are easy for people to use, and consistent with one another.
	No decisions have been taken on whether to move towards a national road pricing scheme. It is only on the evidence from local schemes that any such decision could be taken, and the Government have made clear that there would need to be a full public debate. The Demonstrations will help to inform that debate by building our understanding of how road pricing systems and technologies might be designed and operated to address people's legitimate concerns about privacy, reliability and accuracy.
	We expect the Demonstrations to begin in the Spring of 2008.